For centuries, the highest form of art was history painting, the telling of instructive stories from religion, mythology, or ancient history in mult-figured compositions. In this interactive master drawings course, webcast from the Anne and Malcolm McHenry Study Room for Works on Paper, we will explore the process of relating these episodes visually, from early studies through compositional works and beyond.

A variety of European traditions, whether Classicizing or naturalistic, northern or southern, will be the focus of this course.